incurred, and we keep acting as it has, and no cessation of home buying according to lennar, and the sandy bailout will kick in by the end of the second quarter, home depot will fly. we're through two of the washington stumbling blocks, the election and the fiscal cliff. one more leg to go. debt ceiling. the last obstacle may be the least dangerous, judging by what happened last year with the overly dreaded debt downgrade and what's happening now. take your cue from the markets. here is the bottom line. washington fright fest is almost over, people. maybe time to break out the dr. strangelove handbook and learn how to stop worrying and love the irrelevant gridlock that will soon face, once the debt ceiling is raised, and politics cease to be the biggest factor in our investment thinking. kevin in washington, kevin. >> caller: booyah, mr. brilliant one. just a quick question. you know, with the higher cost of foods and energy, and the lower incomes we're all expecting, the average working person, do you think we can return to the dependence on our credit cards? if we are, is mastercard a go